Cash-starved Kenyans redeemed Safaricom’s Bonga Points worth Sh301 million to buy food and households according to reports.
The Safaricom customer loyalty awards scheme, Bonga For Good Initiative, was launched on April 3 to help customers to pay for goods and services during the tough economic times brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the new scheme brought by the telecom company – Bonga For Good, customers spent most of their entitlement on solar equipment, pay bills, make household purchases and buy goods.
This comes at a point when the government has put restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus making businesses cut down their activities on reduced consumers’ demand triggering unpaid leaves, pay cuts, and layoffs.
The reduced cash flow has changed the consumer behaviors, generating an urge for non-monetary expenditures such as the use of Bonga Point.
Redeeming of the points has helped Safaricom reduce its stock of the point that sits on its as books as a liability. The initiative has given customers an option to spend beyond their traditional airtime, internet services, and mobile phones.
By the end of the company’s financial year, March 2019, it had valued its Bonga Point at 3.8 billion.
Most customers redeemed their point at various supermarket chains which included Khetias, Tusky, and Naivas.
The Bonga Points loyalty programmer was launched back in 2007 to allow customers to earn a point for every Sh10 spent on short messages, data, voice calls, or even M-Pesa services.
“This initiative is to empower Kenyans to use the savings they have been making by using Safaricom products over the years to meet their needs to pay for their essentials or donate to the most vulnerable in the society,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said a statement.
